polymorphself 

As far as I can tell these are the current three big Japanese names for custom built randonneur bikes (and sometimes touring).

Who has one? What are your thoughts? How do these three builders compare?

JaccoW

All I have is some classic looking parts from Grand Bois for my rando bikes and plans to order some 40H wheels from them in the future.

randyjawa 

Though unsure of the "vintage" nature of such bicycles, I would like very much to see this thread survive. So, let's see-em. Perhaps there are other, less known, makers that are worth including. Subscribed.

greg3rd48 

Gran Bois products and bikes look well made and certainly fit a niche. I recently bought 30mm Gran Bois Cypres tires for my carbon Fuji and they are fantastic. They arrived on my doorstep in three days from Kyoto!

TenGrainBread 

Just to give more detail about these three:

Ebisu is the house-brand of Jitensha Studio, a bicycle shop in Berkeley CA owned by Hiroshi Iimura. He designs the bikes and has them made by various Japanese manufacturers including Toei and I believe Toyo, among others.

Toei is the only manufacturer on your list. They certainly qualify as vintage even though they are still around, having made frames for many decades under both their own brand and for brands like Alps, Grand Bois, Ebisu, etc...

Grand Bois is the house-brand of I's Bicycle Shop in Kyoto. Ikuo Tsuchiya who runs the shop does the design-work for Grand Bois and the frames are manufactured by various entities including Toei. He also does restoration work on vintage bicycles.

Salamandrine 

Let me add that all of those entities have been around for so long they are sort of automatically vintage. Jitensha was doing retro rando bikes way before anyone else in the bay area.

nlerner

I purchased an Ebisu from Jitensha studios probably about 10 years ago. It was kind of a semi-custom in that I could determine tube lengths, 650B or 700c, color, and a few other small details. The ordering experience went well through email and phone conversation. I rode that bike a fair amount, including in all kinds of varied terrain, which the 650B x 42mm wheels handled well. I also had it built up in various configurations. Ultimately, I found that it was a never particularly sprightly ride (no planing!) and moved it on to a new owner a couple of years back. Here's a pic of what it looked like when I sold it:

polymorphself 

I’m currently reading The Golden Age of Handbuilt bicycles by Jan Heine which is all about mid century French randonneuring. So many of these bikes were ahead of their time in innovation and weight. Most of them weighed around 20 pounds fully equipped with racks, fenders, pump and light system. They were using alloy before anyone else as well as cantis that could be toed in, among other innovations that wouldn’t become the norm for many years.

I wonder how much these Japanese versions follow the same creation process as the French classics they are inspired by? Are a modern Alex Singer and a TOEI randonneur comparable? A retro Herse and a modern Grand Bois? I also wonder what may be particularly Japanese about these bikes, if anything?

TenGrainBread 

Modern Alex Singer bicycles are a little more austere in nature than the wildly-customized bikes of the 40, 50s, and 60s that the shop is known for. A lot of 700C bikes that are beautiful but otherwise pretty conventional. They have also started collaborating with other designer to make electric city bikes and some other more modern items. I think Olivier Csuka is aware of the evolving nature of the industry and doesn't just want to run a shop making historical recreations.

Toei, on the other hand, builds much more old-school and involved cyclotouring bikes. They still build with chainstay-mounted Cyclo derailleurs (customized or NOS), build Herse-style quick-release demontable bikes, custom racks, using old stock tubing and lugs, etc... These bikes are much closer to the old Herses and Singers you see in books like The Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles. While they and Grand Bois have delved into some modern tech, they mostly stay old-school.

Here is a Toei-built Alps from the 80s that I own. I haven't built it up yet but will some day. It's a pretty conventional but nicely-built 650b bike. The Toei logo is stamped on the dropouts.


I've also had another Toei-built Alps that was even fancier, but was too small for me so I moved it on. This was a "Rover" model meant for pass-hunting in the mountains. The carry-tube was meant for easily portaging the bike over rough terrain if riding was not an option. The bike is probably from the late 80s and constructed from a very light gauge of Tange Champion tubing.

Ashne

Grand Bois have started making in-house their own frames since 2017.
a lot of parts are manufactured in Taiwan.
I have heard Grand Bois and Heine’s Herse commission a German designer living in Taiwan to design parts. That includes the Nivex derailleur, brakes — there’s a German living in Taiwan who is the brains behind the innovations these companies trial. A full insight is needed how the relationship works

bulgie 

Toei has made some of the most beautiful bikes on earth. This one (branded as "Stag") is a favorite of mine (pics stolen from their website, not my bike! I wish!)







Maybe obvious, but the lever in that last pic turns the bottle generator on or off.

Note the Dugast handmade tubular tires. Man what a droolworthy bike! Needs a cooler housing stop in the headset though, ugh. Maybe like the ancient Greek sculptors who would leave one small flaw in an otherwise-perfect work, so as not to offend the gods.

VRJAKE 

Perhaps the most beautiful bike I've had in my care. 2010 Toei.

VRJAKE 

Consistently the nicest riding and all-around bikes I've ever taken care of, first batch circa 2000 EBISU. Since new, the kit has evolved.

nlerner

^ That green tape was a bold fashion statement.

VRJAKE 

I'm color blind, thought it was a perfect match!